The Light in The Dark
by wannabewyler
Summary: Voldemort is building up his ranks, Hogwarts and the world outside is full of darkness, but there is always light in the dark and always a saviour, a miracle, when all looks lost. AU


**This story is definitely AU and I also don't own a thing. This first chapter here, is more of a prologue despite it's length. Read and review please (i'm excited about this story and therefore excited to hear what you think)**

Sirius Black stared down at the little bundle in his mother's arms and smiled. The baby was adorable and he was incredibly proud to be a big brother. "He's wrinkly." Sirius commented, sticking his finger in the younger boy's cheek- _Regulus' _cheek. "And pink." He added as an afterthought. He may be young, only two years old, but he recognised that pink was definitely not a masculine colour.

"He is pink sweetie and once upon a time, so was you." Sirius stared at his mum, her hair mussed and sticking to her face with sweat – a look he had never seen on her before- and wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"I don't like pink." Sirius' father clapped his small shoulder and grinned down at him. "I like Reggie." Sirius said with delight, grinning when his younger brother, only hours old, grabbed hold of his finger and blinked up at him with big eyes.

* * *

><p>It was a year later when Sirius was pretty much in the same position but the only difference was that Regulus was by his side, a boy that could barely stand, as they both looked down at the small bundle in their mother's arms. "She's cute." Sirius commented, his three year old brain silent as he was immediately enamoured with the little girl. His sister. "And pink too." Walburga scrunched her face up with delight, ruffling her eldest son's hair. "I like her."<p>

"We're glad." Orion commented, both of his hands resting on Sirius' shoulder.

Sirius looked down at the bundle and took note of the red hair that clearly did not match his own black locks and then he grinned, similar to the one he did when Regulus grabbed his finger for the first time, as she yawned. Her arms stretched out from her body, one to the side and one up into her mother's chin before she blearily blinked open her eyes and stared at Sirius with the Black's signature grey eyes.

"Name?" Sirius asked, stroking her nose and watching as it scrunched up before she sneezed softly.

"Lily. Lily Cassiopeia Black." Sirius loved her immediately.

* * *

><p>"Regulus, give me back my hippogriff!" Lily cried, chasing after the six year old boy as he ran around in the garden, waving the cuddly toy which he had stolen off of her. It was charmed to act like a proper hippogriff, with a few edits so it wouldn't hurt the child causing it to start acting like a dog, but it was still a cuddly toy. The stuffed creature was writhing in Regulus' hands as it attempted to get free.<p>

"No!" Regulus shouted defiantly, waving it above his head like a trophy before tucking it close as he started to climb a tree.

"Sirius!" Lily whined, turning her attention from one brother to the next. "Regulus won't give me back my hippogriff." Sirius sighed and looked up from his book. The three siblings were in the garden at Grimmauld Place. The eight year old boy had been reading a book about quidditch, already in love with the sport and excited to play it properly when he went to school in a few years. "Can you get it for me?" She asked, big eyes blinking up at him and he sighed again.

Their parents were out and it allowed the children a rare moment to act how they should. Lately, their parents had been acting stricter and therefore more punishments had been dished out to Sirius who made sure that he got the brunt of it. Lily, their princess, had yet to receive a punishment and neither he nor Regulus could hold a grudge against her since she just had this way about her which captured your heart and made you all soft. Since Lily didn't need protecting – although Sirius never risked it – it meant that he'd been protecting Regulus more as well as taking his own punishments.

His parents were beating them into submission.

"Regulus, give it back!" Sirius called, marking the page in his book before getting out of his seat. He was very mature for an eight year old and when angry, had a glare that could scare a giant. He'd learnt that particular look off of the five year old angel that he called a sister. "I will climb that tree Reg, and I won't be happy."

Sirius listened to the half heartened grumbles but soon enough the miniature looking Sirius lowered himself down and handed back the toy which nuzzled its head into Lily's neck. "Sorry." Regulus mumbled, head bowed and hands in his pockets. Lily didn't comment and Sirius turned to look at her, eyebrow raised and an unimpressed look on his face.

She sighed before responding. "It's okay Reg. Thank you for giving it back." The two younger siblings grinned at each other before running off to do… whatever they had been doing before Regulus stole her toy. Sirius sighed. He wished that he could be as care free as those two were. He'd never be able to be like that again. He had to look after them, make sure they bathed and got to bed on time (more so Regulus than Lily) and protected them from the beatings that Orion Black would administer. Sirius had too many scars – both mentally and physically – to ever be that care free.

* * *

><p>The letter arrived by owl on his eleventh birthday as he was told it was. His Hogwarts letter. He's going to Hogwarts. He wanted to jump around the house and scream in delight, laugh and grin whilst spinning little Lily around with him. She turns eight in a couple of months but she was still tiny. He didn't do any of those actions though, instead choosing to smile –albeit a bit larger than it should have been – and accepted the gentle congratulations given by his family before returning to a book in silence.<p>

It was only in his room, with Regulus and Lily that he allowed his excitement to bubble over. He grinned, he laughed and he spun Lily around. He jumped on the bed and hugged Regulus before collapsing onto it with a sigh.

He wanted to go now.

"What house do you want to be in?" Regulus asked and Sirius' brow furrowed. By all rights he should say Slytherin – the Black family were well known for being a constant presence in the Slytherin house and he had no doubt that he'd be disowned or treated worse if it was anything other than that. But deep down, he knew that he wasn't a snake. Snakes wouldn't protect their younger siblings or care about muggleborns – because really, Sirius did not understand what was wrong about them, if anything they were fascinating – so he wouldn't fit there at all. He wouldn't belong.

"Slytherin of course." He told his two siblings, grinning a fake smile at them both. "It's where I belong." Regulus and Sirius talk briefly, discussing everything about Hogwarts that they can think of before the nine year old decided that he was going to go to sleep. Lily went to follow him silently but stopped when Sirius grabbed her hand. "You've been awfully quiet Petal. Anything wrong?" She shakes her head and smiles what she believes to be a reassuring smile. He sees right through it. "Okay, but you can talk to me." He reminds and she doesn't breathe a word but kisses him on the forehead before walking out of the room.

* * *

><p>Two weeks later Regulus tells him that Lily was worried that Sirius wouldn't care for her anymore once he'd left home for Hogwarts. He corners her in her room and has a heated talk, ordering her to never think like that again. "You're my little sister Lils, I'm going to love you till the day I die. No school or distance is going to change that." She'd clutched the book that she'd been reading to her chest and nodded before he grabbed her face and stared into her eyes. "You're never getting rid of me and I will never abandon you. Never."<p>

* * *

><p>"I'll see you at Christmas." Sirius informs the family gathered at the station. Orion and Walburga, his parents who never show any affection to him since Lily had turned five, weren't showing any now and merely nodded at his comment. Their attention was dragged away from the children only seconds later when Abraxas Malfoy and his wife appear. Sirius uses this chance to quickly talk to his siblings. "I'll owl you both this evening. I'll write every week and I'll miss you both. He wraps his arms around them both, kissing their heads before pulling back and looking at Regulus. "I can't ask this of you but, look after her."<p>

Regulus grins. "Always. But they would never harm a hair on her head. She's their princess." Sirius smirks at that and Lily rolls her eyes with annoyance. It was true though. They'd never hurt Lily.

* * *

><p>"Ow." Sirius moans, wincing away from Lily as she dabs his lip with a wet cloth. She shoots him a look and he shoots her one back. He's annoyed and he has a right to moan. "I want to go back to school and get away from everything that reminds me of this place." Sirius grumbles, rolling over and smashing his face in a pillow. He hears Regulus' outraged gasp and feels Lily stiffen up next to him and only then does it dawn on him about how his words could be taken. He quickly rolls over. "Oh no Lily, I didn't mean that." She has tears in her eyes and her lower lip is trembling. "Lily I love you, you know that." He grabs her hand but she pulls it free and lowers herself off the side of the bed. Regulus is in the chair in the corner, reading one of Sirius' textbooks – he wants to be ahead of the game for when he goes to Hogwarts in two years. He isn't reading now though, instead staring at Sirius with wide eyes. "I didn't mean it like that." Sirius complains, jumping off the bed and beating Lily to the door so that she can't leave his room.<p>

"Please move Sirius." She politely asks and he can see the mask that has settled on her features. The mask of indifference and coldness. He shakes his head and grabs her shoulders, crouching down slightly to look into her eyes.

"I love you Lily and I didn't mean it like that at all. At Hogwarts, nobody hates me for being sorted into Gryffindor. I have friends and nobody judges me. I'm welcomed." She stiffens under his hands before sagging and letting him pull her into a hug.

"If it makes any difference," she whispers so that Regulus can't hear. "I'm proud of you for being a Gryffindor. One day, I hope I will be too." He looks at her and he doesn't doubt it for a second.

* * *

><p>"So Regulus will be joining Hogwarts next year." James comments as the train pulls up at Kings Cross. "What house are we thinking?" They had all just finished their second year and were already the best of friends. Sirius and James had worked out about Remus' furry little problem a couple of months ago and had bonded with the boy even more.<p>

"I'm not sure. He's smart, incredibly, so I'm thinking Ravenclaw." Sirius responds, not wholly paying attention as he drags his trunk off the train. He's already scouring the crowd for Lily and he's surprised that she hasn't found him yet since she always pounces on him the moment he steps off the train.

"No Lily today?" James asks as if reading his thoughts. "She would have hugged us by now." Sirius shrugs, spotting his father talking to Abraxas and behind him, he notices the figure of a little girl. "Ah, there she is." James, waving to his own parents, quickly signals that he'll be going with Sirius before turning back to his friend. "Let's go see your sister."

They walk closer and notice how she's looking at the ground, further away from Orion Black than Sirius had first suspected, with her hair providing a nice shield from the rest of the world. "Lily!" Sirius calls out when he's close enough and watches as she stiffens. Alarm bells ring immediately. "Lils?" He calls again and she waves slightly with her hand but she doesn't look up. To his side, James is looking worried and confused and they walk closer to her. "Going to give me a hug?" Sirius asks and she shakes her head, signalling 'no'. Her hair moves with the shake and he suddenly sees the reason for her shyness.

A bruise.

A bruise in the shape of a handprint, small welts on her skin that resembled their father's rings. James sucks in a breath of surprise when Sirius grabs her chin and shoves the hair behind her ear so that she can't hide it anymore. "Lily?" Sirius breathes, silently asking a multitude of questions.

"Well, lovely to see you Lily!" James comments cheerily, realising that he shouldn't get involved despite how much he wants to. "I'll owl you both later on in the holidays." He gave a slight wave and a worried look before returning to his parents.

"Where was Reg?" Sirius growls, anger flowing off of him in waves. She flinches and he turns apologetic immediately. He's thankful that they're in a less crowded area of the station.

"He was _asleep._" The way Lily informs him of Reg's predicament tells him all he needs to know. He'd tried to do everything he could to keep his promise, even if it meant getting beaten till he was unconscious. "It hurt Sirius." She whispers, eyes shooting towards their father in case he hears her. "I was so scared." He pulled her into a hug and kissed her head.

"I've got you now."

* * *

><p>Regulus ends up in Slytherin the next year and immediately a chasm between the two brothers appears in the way they act and talk. Arguments erupt every day and they both send letters to Lily, demanding that she knocks sense into the other. When those letters arrive, she doesn't reply. Christmas is tense and you can tell that Sirius is dying to get away from the house and he does, spending majority of his time with James at Potter Manor.<p>

James confronts him one day, "What about Lily?" Sirius looks up from his bowl of cereal, his second of the day. "You've been staying here for a week and a half Sirius, Christmas is tomorrow and as much as we love you, so does Lily." Sirius rolls his eyes, taking a sip of his pumpkin juice.

"Lily is okay with me coming here. She told me so." She's gotten better at lying to Sirius since he's never at home with her or the family. Regulus and her have grown closer, and he's now the one that can see through her lies.

"Sirius you went home for two days before owling me to see if you can spend some time here. Lily barely got to see you before you left." James' words hit home. He hasn't seen Lily properly this holiday; he'd arrived, unpacked and stayed in his room for majority of the two days he'd spent there. "Go home and we'll see you back at Hogwarts." James tells him, chuckling as he grabs his own breakfast.

Sirius is home within the hour and immediately he knows that his parents are out. That leaves either an empty house or both siblings home alone. He hopes that both his siblings are alone; maybe he can mend bridges with Regulus.

He walks up the stairs, dodging the creaky one on the second staircase and stops outside Regulus' door. It's open and from his place he can see Lily sprawled out on the bed, her red hair dangling over the side, as she reads one of Reg's textbooks. His mind flashes back to when his little brother did that with him whilst Lily sat and listened. It's not like that now. Nothing is like it should be.

"How are you?" Regulus asks, breaking the silence and his voice sounds tired and resigned.

"Fine." Lily responds but Regulus doesn't give up. Sirius fumes; can't he tell that Lily _is _fine? Sirius can see Regulus giving Lily a look and before he knows it, she's crying. Enveloped in her brother's arms, she sobs and allows him to rock her but never pressures her to speak. "I miss him." She says and Sirius can hear everything clearly. "Are we not good enough for him anymore? You're a Slytherin, whoop de doo, but you're still Regulus. You're still the boy that stole my hippogriff when we were younger and pulled his hair but loved us both none the less. He's a Gryffindor, but he's still the boy who would jump in front of you to stop you from experiencing father's fists. Where did the love go?"

"Things are different at Hogwarts Lils, you'll understand."

"But you're not at Hogwarts! You're at home and we're family and I just want my brothers back." Lily dissolves into inconsolable sobs again and Sirius watches at the closeness between the two siblings. Once upon a time he had that between both of them; he wanted it back too. He coughed, catching their attention as he moved further into the room.

"I love you guys." Sirius started, not sure where to begin. But the love he had for Reg never disappeared at all, so maybe that was a good place to start.

* * *

><p>Sirius was going up to fourth year, Regulus was moving up to second and Lily was finally entering Hogwarts. She was at the platform, looking at the train and the excitement on everyone's faces, a grin that showcases her own. She's been waiting for this moment for three years. "I'll owl you after the ceremony mother, father." Lily informs them, smiling tentatively up at her parents. They'd both come this time and emotion was being shown – was that a <em>smile? <em>

"And we'll protect her." Sirius informs them, holding her hand and acting the big brother. Regulus is on her other side and glaring at a small first year who is staring at Lily. Their parents say their farewells soon after and Lily was sure that she saw a tear in her mother's eye but she doesn't call them out on it. "Let's go find a compartment." Sirius lets go of her hand so that he can carry her trunk as well as his own before he makes his way to the nearest entrance onto the train. Regulus follows silently. "Are you sitting with me or Regulus?" He asks when Regulus stops outside a compartment filled with various Slytherins – she believes they are Severus Snape and someone called Crabbe but she doesn't really care. They both look scary.

"Can I sit with you please?" She asks, her eyes wide and begging. He grins and gives a shrug to Regulus before motioning his head to move forward. She follows silently, peeping through carriages to see people of various ages. Some are sitting playing with cards that explode, whilst others are talking and settling in.

"Sirius!" A voice calls and she looks around her older brother to notice a small, chubby but cute guy waving his arm. Sirius shouts back a greeting and speeds up, making sure Lily is behind him before entering the compartment. "Hardly saw you this summer." The boy comments and Lily notices that he's the only currently in it but there are other people's belongings.

"Stayed at home with the siblings this summer Pete. This little munchkin was far too excited." He's put the trunks on the racks above their heads and is smirking at her but she's too excited to care so she only grins back. "Lily, this is Peter." She holds her hand out to shake, as she's been brought up to do, and Peter looks slightly confused and shocked that she's so formal but shakes it nonetheless.

"Lilykins is it you?" A voice cries behind her and she grins before turning and jumping into James' arms. "Ah my, you've gotten huge!" He exclaims and she giggles before he puts her down. "Excited?" She nods before Sirius tugs on her hand to indicate that she can sit down, which she does, by the window where she sees the bustling crowd outside. She can just see her parents, still standing there at the back.

Remus follows James into the carriage and sits opposite her beside Peter. She's only met him once and so she says a quiet hello when he greets her before she silences and listens to the group banter. A few minutes later and the whistle blows, indicating that the train is going to leave and she returns her eyes to the window, where she subtly waves goodbye to her parents. She doesn't see their response before the train departs to take her away.

She listens to their conversation for a while before Remus turns to her. "What house do you want?" She chewed her lip and looked at Sirius nervously. This was a discussion the two had been having in private.

"She wants to be a Gryffindor but she's worried what our family going to do about it." Sirius wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. "When they get mad that she's more like me, we'll run away."

"Run to mine." James informed them, grinning. "The two of us can have parties every other night and when Lily gets old enough to date, we'll bully the guys to leave her alone." She glared at him playfully before a grin broke free. "We'll welcome you into Gryffindor with welcome arms."

She couldn't wait to be a lion.

* * *

><p>"Black, Lily." It seems the whole hall turned their attention to her. Slytherins and Gryffindors perking up to wonder if they would be housing another one of the siblings whilst Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were interested to see if she'd be different to both and enter their house. Lily glanced over her shoulder, taking note of Sirius' and James' encouraging smiles before looking to her other side and seeing Regulus give her one as well. Taking a deep breath she sat on the stool and allowed the hat to be placed on her head.<p>

"_Ah, another Black. Interesting. You're a mixture of both brothers. Loyal and brave as well as cunning and resourceful. You have ambition young child and the perfect house for you is…" _The hat seemed to be taking his time with the decision and Sirius just knew that the hat was telling her how much of a shock it was to have another Black in Gryffindor. The hat had done the same with him. _"SLYTHERIN!" _The hat cried out and the table celebrated. Regulus stared at Sirius with shock, believing that Lily hadn't wanted to be in this house. And just being able to tell that she wasn't a snake.

"Oh no." Remus murmured and Peter nodded his agreement. James looked disappointed but Sirius was devastated. Lily was meant to be in Gryffindor and the two of them were meant to change the way Regulus acted so that he wasn't cold at school and then when their parents disowned them for not believing in muggleborns being filth, they were meant to run away and be free.

Lily's heart stopped when the hat shouted out Slytherin and she plastered on a smile. _"Everything will make sense." _The hat told her before McGonagall pulled it away and let her hop down off the stall. She skipped to the table and sat down next to a boy who she remembered being called out as Avery. She kept her head down throughout the rest of the Sorting ceremony and feast, feeling multiple pairs of eyes on her but ignoring everyone. She ate and she listened and she kept her face a cool mask, one that she'd learnt to do when Sirius was avoiding everyone in his room and not talking to anyone. She followed the Prefects to their common room, ignored the shouts of her name from Sirius and rushed into her dormitory where she stayed all night in case she bumped into Regulus in the common room.

She wasn't meant to be a Slytherin and yet she was.


End file.
